[facebook] Citizens raise concerns about the possibility of taxpayer dollars being spent as RTD continues in pushing forward with a possible relocation of the planned and approved Goldline Federal EAST station to a site allegedly chosen by The TOD Group (headed by a Louisiana developer), approximately a quarter mile west of Federal buried in a wetland / wildlife habitat area.

While RTD maintains their claim of “cost neutrality” as a stipulation of the relocation, residents question the untold expenses in administration and other fees, including tours, to promote the West . There is also a chance that RTD will have to redo their permit regarding wetland impacts through the US Army Corps of Engineers; permits that are believed to have been paid for with tax dollars to approve the EAST site. In addition, there are concerns that the cost of the extensive bridges and infrastructure needed for Federal West will far surpass any costs needed to cleanup Federal East.

One also has to wonder how many untold millions of dollars were spent on the 3 year process that thoroughly studied, selected, and approved Federal EAST. Your tax dollars down the drain? And now, apparently, RTD wants more….

RTD appears to justify this move by suggesting they will save up to $2M in costs to cleanup Federal East. However, their claim has yet to be validated and has been challenged as being grossly exagerated by a local professional in the environmental cleanup business, who states the actual costs could be well under $100 thousand, a substantial difference.

It would appear that RTD is willing to do and say almost anything to move the Federal Station.

RTD officials are considering two sites for a planned Gold Line commuter-rail station, and their deliberations pit those promoting mixed-use development on one side of Federal Boulevard against some who want to attack blight on the other.

The proposed station area on the east side of Federal near West 60th Avenue in unincorporated Adams County is populated by used-car lots and industrial storage yards.

Only a short distance away, the possible west-side site is wooded and more pastoral, with Clear Creek and an accompanying bicycle and pedestrian trail coursing through the area.

Both locations sit astride a Union Pacific Railroad line that will be a shared right of way for the Regional Transportation District’s $517 million rail line between Union Station and Ward Road in Wheat Ridge.

A multimillion-dollar RTD environmental study settled on the industrial Federal East location for the station.

Yet when a developer acquired several land parcels on the west side of Federal and requested that RTD shift the station there to help foster mixed- use “transit-oriented development” on his site, RTD agreed to consider the move and won Federal Transit Administration support for the possible switch.

That decision angered and mobilized some who live close to the Federal West site.

“Who wins with a West station?” said Kim Gillan, leader of a group fighting the station shift. “The land dealer, who has absolutely no intention of building anything on that property. The out-of-state land dealer is merely rezoning and flipping the property.”

Gillan added about the east-side site: “The community loses because we have one chance to revitalize a blighted area.”

Working to protect the rights of the citizens and preserve our ecosystems from over aggressive developers, Concerned Citizens for Compatible Development (CCCD) is a grassroots coalition comprised of residents, community members, property, and business owners in Unincorporated Southwest Adams County who support responsible development that is both compatible and sustainable. We will strive to support development that will benefit the broader community while at the same time preserve the unique characteristics of our surrounding neighborhoods, our wildlife, streams, lakes, biking paths, and other valued characteristics of Unincorporated Southwest Adams County.

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